The invention relates to a guitar pick guard. More particularly, the invention relates to an improved pick guard that is mounted to a standard guitar or bass guitar.
Customized guitars have become increasingly popular. Often, the guitar represents a significant investment, and pride is taken in maintaining its finish and overall appearance.
A stiff acrylic pick guard is standardly used on guitars to prevent damage to the guitar finish from accidental scraping by a pick. These pick guards often extend beneath the strings, and extend to the lower edge of the guitar, to protect the guitar finish where it is most likely to be accidentally struck by a pick.
These standard pick guards are usually available in a few uniform hues, such as white, black, gray, or a solid color. Due to the nature of their manufacture, only limited colors are available. Having a custom pattern impregnated within the pick guard is unheard of.
The standard pick guard has holes in a screw pattern that matches the guitar on which it is to be applied. Further, each of these screw holes are countersunk to allow the screws to penetrate the pick guard to a point where the top of the screw heads rest at or below the top planar surface of the pick guard. However, even among different copies of the same model guitar, the screw pattern can differ. A typical guitar owner normally has neither the tools to punch a hole in a solid acrylic pick guard, nor to countersink the holes to accommodate the screw heads. Thus, pick guards must be manufactured to accommodate every conceivable screw pattern on every conceivable model of guitar.
In addition, acrylic, and indeed most types of plastic, has the tendency to scratch. Thus, although the guitar finish might be protected from scratching, the pick guard endures a great deal of scratching. Ultimately the pick guard must be replaced when the scratches become unsightly.
Further, the palm and wrist have a tendency to come into contact with the pick guard often while the guitar is being played. A hard acrylic pick guard does little to prevent hand fatigue and abrasion during extended play. Moisture from sweat has the tendency to get on the surface of the acrylic pick guard, making it slippery. When the pick guard is slippery, it becomes quite difficult to steady one's wrist firm against the pick guard for complex picking.
While the purpose of a conventional acrylic pick guard is to prevent damage to the guitar, often it does quite the opposite. If the pick guard is not tightly fastened to the guitar, or if care is not taken during installation and removal of the pick guard, the guitar finish can be easily scratched.
While these units may be suitable for the particular purpose employed, or for general use, they would not be as suitable for the purposes of the present invention as disclosed hereafter.